Chelsea boss Roberto Di Matteo has backed David Luiz and admitted he would not change his style of defending ahead of tomorrow’s Champions League clash against Shakhtar Donetsk.
The Brazilian has been part of a leaky Chelsea defence which has conceded eight goals in the last three games in the absence of club captain John Terry.
Di Matteo told reporters: “You need to see both sides. On one hand we have a fantastic player that can decide games for you and on the other hand you have to take into account that everybody can make mistakes.”
The manager claimed the defender is a key part of his team: “We want our defenders to play and be involved when we attack so I know more focus is put on mistakes. But he scored a fantastic free-kick against Nordsjaelland and other important goals for us.”
When asked if he planned to restrict Luiz’s movements, Di Matteo dismissed the notion: “You need to be able to take the best out of the players and I would never take his qualities or restrict qualities that a player has.
“He is a fantastic player for us. We are working on the fact that in certain moments maybe it’s better to play simple but he is a player with great qualities that has decided many games for us as well.”
